YG - Maniac

What this video is

Released September 23, 2022 as the fourth and final pre-release single from YG's sixth studio album I Got Issues (Def Jam / 4Hunnid, September 30, 2022), 'Maniac' arrives at a moment when YG was consciously repositioning himself as an enduring West Coast authority figure rather than a trend-chasing commercial rapper. The video's nocturnal Los Angeles aesthetic — lowriders, street crews, tattoo culture — operates as…

Why it matters

A key artifact of the 2020s West Coast hip-hop visual revival, 'Maniac' demonstrates how G-funk aesthetic codes — lowriders, nocturnal LA geography, crew solidarity — are being reclaimed and recontextualized through contemporary high-end digital production. The video is notable for its restraint:…

The director

Matt Zolly is a Los Angeles-based director and producer, founder and creative director of Snowbeach, a creative studio and production company. He grew up influenced by iconic music videos and commercials of the late 1990s and early 2000s. His production…